Messing With Minds: The Power of Illusions
by Skewbii
Summary: For all his power, Kurama was manipulated through an illusion and caged through a seal. Naruto uses this to decide that Illusion and Sealing are the strongest Ninja techniques, and seeks to specialise in them. With Kurama's help, he develops a perfect Chakra control, something which is unheard-of for people with Naruto's Chakra reserves. How will the world deal with him?
1. Chapter 1

**Messing with Minds: The Power of Illusion**

**_Chapter 1_**

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

It was finally time.

Naruto slowly made his way towards the class where the final portion of his graduation examination would take place. Most of the class, by this time, had had their results declared, and since no one actually cared if he passed, as far as he knew, the classroom was virtually empty. The only other student present was one Ino Yamanaka, due to her last name.

Honestly, Naruto wasn't worried in the slightest; for he _would _become a ninja today. He had done decently in the Taijutsu, the hand-to-hand combat segment (despite Mizuki going harder on him), and target practice and the written test portion had been passable in his opinion. The only portion remaining was the Ninjutsu section, or the section of ninja techniques.

Naruto often wondered why Ninjutsu was called so: wasn't every technique a ninja used a ninja technique? On the first day of the academy, professor Iruka had told them of the various techniques a ninja might learn: Taijutsu or the physical, Kenjutsu or the sword, Bojutsu or the staff… but what had caught his attention were Genjutsu, the illusion techniques and Fuuinjutsu, the sealing techniques.

And why would they not? After all, a man with strange red eyes had been able to subdue Kurama (the nine-tailed fox of majestic strength, a being who could wipe out an entire human civilization without even feeling winded) and make him a puppet using Genjutsu; while another man, the fourth Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, his village, had been able to seal Kurama inside Naruto using Fuuinjutsu. These two techniques had rendered such a powerful being helpless…

**_'_****_Brat, stop thinking about it right now, we've got work to do.'_**

This was Kurama, the aforementioned nine-tailed fox who was sealed inside Naruto. The two of them had a very close relationship. On the day Naruto was born, Kurama had been put under an illusion and manipulated to attack Naruto's birthplace. His parents had died in the attack. It had only been ended when the village leader, or the Kage, was able to seal Kurama inside him, at the cost of the Kage's death. However, people had refused to see reason and concluded that since their beloved Kage, who was his father according to Kurama, had disappeared with the 'demon' and reappeared with a kid, the kid had to be the 'demon reincarnate.' The whisker marks he had gained from Kurama's presence inside him had only cemented their false beliefs. Since that day, the villagers had done everything they could possibly do to hurt him, for he was the demon who had killed their kin. No villager had wanted to breast-feed him, so his survival for the first few months had sorely been possible due to Kurama's power leaking through the seal and maintaining his vitality. Kurama had said he had only meant to loosen the seal so that he could eventually escape and wreak havoc against everyone who had wronged him, and his body healing was only due the the expelled chakra, the life-force, needing somewhere to go. However, the villagers' attempts to starve him and make him die a premature death, which kept going undetected due to his continued survival, ended up loosening the seal enough that Kurama was able to send his spiritual Chakra to Naruto's brain and access his thoughts. Thus even when Naruto was only a few months over an year old, Kurama was able to witness the casual cruelty people afforded Naruto, and had ended up realizing that hatred and anger made monsters out of people, and had started tempering his rage against mankind to levels which let him at least think rationally. Kurama had also been able to sympathize with Naruto, for despite being a human, he was just a kid, and was being made to suffer for something which he had had no control over, just like Kurama was.

Kurama had ended up being the one to teach Naruto how to talk, for the orphanage matron refused saying "I cannot allow the demonspawn to learn the language of us civilized humans." As Naruto had grown up, he had only had Kurama to talk to as no one else was allowed to do so. He could not learn to read since Kurama, being a fox spirit, had no insight in human scripture. He had never had anything to eat, since the orphanage realized that the demon didn't die if starved. He wasn't allowed to bath, since a demon like him should not look human, lest some unsuspecting child lower his guard and approach him only for him to eat the child. He was kicked out of the orphanage as soon as it became evident that the old man who occasionally came to check up on him was too busy to come visit the orphanage.

Through thick and thin, Kurama had stood by Naruto, who had come to see Kurama as a father figure. When he had called Kurama father for the first time, the fox spirit had been touched. He had, however, tried to deter Naruto from getting attached, saying that he was only biding his time and would eventually break the seal, a process which would kill Naruto. Kurama had told Naruto of the truth behind the attack at Konoha and how the only thing Kurama wanted was to have his revenge against humans. The then five-year old kid had simply grown contemplative for a few moments, before saying, _'If for all your might, you were still controlled, what is to say you won't ever be again? Won't it be better if you stick around and learn how to protect yourself from being mind-controlled?' For as far as I see, you are weaker than the illusions and the seals right now.' _Kurama had, to say the least, been floored by this logic and had acquiesced without much fuss.

_'__Don't worry dad, I've got it.'_

Upon entering the examination room, Naruto was met by a tanned, scarred visage of one Iruka sir and his assistant, the purplish-haired Mizuki. "Okay Naruto," the pinapple-ponytailed instructor said kindly, "your performance in the earlier two exams has been good. We only need you to perform the Henge, the Substitution and the Clone techniques to pass. All the best."

Easy.

Without wasting time, Naruto quickly switched his position with a nearby stool's, morphed his features into that of instructor Iruka, and made a perfect clone of himself.

"Wow, that was quick," Iruka whistled appreciatively. "You pass Naruto!"

Naruto nodded towards him with a smile. Iruka was one of the few people who had taken the time to get to know Naruto rather than dismissing him altogether. It was not to say that he didn't hate the fox, for he did with a passion, but he had still been tolerant towards him from the beginning, and eventually come to like the quiet boy. Naruto walked towards the desk and picked up a forehead protector, the sign of his new rank amongst the ninja corps, a genin.

Exiting the building, Naruto spared a fleeting, wistful glance towards the other students happily chatting away and celebrating this milestone. It was not like he wasn't welcome there, as being the quiet and unassuming boy that he was, he had no enemies outside the civilians who had been taught to hate him on principle (most of whom, predictably, didn't pass anyway); but he had no friends either. Throughout his childhood, the only people who had wished to talk to him had been either Kurama, the Ichirakus of the ramen shop, Iruka sir and the third and current Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi. All of them were much older than him, and he felt awkward trying to talk to kids his age. Sighing, he turned away from the din and walked back towards his apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

It had been a week since his graduation from the academy, and Naruto had spent most of it in his apartment meditating and talking with Kurama. Ever since he had gotten his apartment from the Hokage, this had been his way to spend his free time, for there was nowhere else he'd be welcome and nothing else he had to do. The passage of the week had, as with every other week in Naruto's life, been excruciatingly slow. He sometimes envied Kurama and his ability to nap for days if left undisturbed.

Meditating was something Naruto had been doing ever since Kurama had alerted him to the unlocking of his first chakra coils when he was six. It was only later that Naruto discovered that his chakra coils had unlocked much earlier than the other academy students, who unlocked theirs in their ninth or tenth year. Kurama suggested that it was due to his body adapting to all the chakra Naruto's body had been handling since he was a child, though Naruto wasn't quite sure about it. Weren't other kids exposed to chakra through the food they ate, which Naruto didn't get?

Anyhow, since Kurama was made completely of chakra, to him controlling his chakra was second nature; chakra was his body after all. He taught Naruto to do the same thing. While Naruto meditated, Naruto tried to feel his chakra coils in the same manner as one would try to feel a rarely used muscle. Once he succeeded in doing it, he focused on expanding and contracting his chakra coils, and releasing chakra, usually in very small amounts, corresponding to the short amounts of excess chakra his body produced then. Other than helping him develop control over his chakra coils, meditation also helped Naruto relax and purge himself of all the negativity he was subjected to by the villagers, and to calm his emotions down. It was something he had come to enjoy greatly over the years, not in the least because it was the only thing he could do to occupy his time.

Since he had learnt the Henge at the academy, Naruto had also started disguising himself while traversing the streets. Slowly and steadily, he had developed an alter-ego, gotten the villagers used to seeing it, and then started shopping for basic amenities like food using their familiarity with his guise. Granted he did not need food to survive, but eating food reduced the strain on Kurama and, as Kurama had suggested, helped in his growth and overall development. This also gave him freedom to roam the village without all the glares, discontented murmurs and fear of being cornered and bullied. Only when he started using his henge did Naruto realize just how much his stay in his home village resembled a prison sentence, for he had no freedom inside for all practical purposes. He couldn't just up and leave either, not that he hadn't tried.

Only two months after having been kicked out of the orphanage, Naruto had been convinced by Kurama to leave the village and to go somewhere he would not be treated like a psychotic murderer. However, due to the lack of experience with human society on the part of both fox and child, they had been caught trying to escape, and had been bought to the Hokage. It was then Naruto had learnt the identity of the kind old man who used to visit the orphanage and talk to him. The Hokage had said that Naruto would not be allowed to leave the village without an adult, and had asked why he wasn't at the orphanage. One thing had led to another, and Naruto had ended up telling the old man everything about his stay at the foster care, minus of course, anything which insinuated to his bond with Kurama, at his insistence.

The Hokage had been furious, and that day, Naruto had gotten to see the side of the kind old grandfather which made him a village leader.

More importantly, Naruto had found someone who _cared._

The Hokage had provided Naruto with his apartment and had started giving him a decent monthly stipend to sustain himself. He had also made Naruto promise to visit him weekly and to share all his problems with the man. He had enrolled the kid into the shinobi academy and had helped him find a purpose to live.

Now that the week was up, it was time for the team placements. With that in mind, a mildly excited Naruto made his way towards the academy for possibly the final time.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3_**

Kurenai Yuhi, first time jonin instructor, was intrigued by the team assigned to her. Hinata Hyuuga, the timid heiress of her clan, had been expected due to their closeness; Shino Aburame, another clan heir, complemented Hinata's abilities well with his bugs and close-range fighting prowess, so his inclusion hadn't been surprising. However, the inclusion of one Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchiruki or the human prison of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine-tailed fox, was a real shock.

Not to say she had anything against him; she, in fact, sympathized with the poor kid, who, like her friend Anko, had been dealt a bad hand at life and was suffering for something he had no control over. That considered, he was a real wild card. Kurenai had no idea what he was capable of: sure, his academy records said average taijutsu and bukijutsu, poor academic capabilities and a superb grasp at ninjutsu... Maybe that was why he was given to her? So that he could act as long-range support to her mostly taijutsu-oriented team? Kakashi had wanted him in his team for some reason, however, the Hokage had pointed to the fact that since he had been given the rookie and the kunoichi of the year in Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, he had to train the one with the least overall grade to balance the team. However, Naruto, according to Iruka, had been average overall and would have been graded higher if only he had done well in his written test. So it wasn't really possible for Kakashi to get him along with his other two students. He had instead been assigned Kiba Inuzuka, who had the worst marks amongst the nine genin who were being considered as worthy of their time.

Kurenai wondered what would she teach the kids. She was nothing special outside of her Genjutsu, where she excelled. Not that it mattered much, for jonin teachers were only supposed to hone the basic skills of their genin and get them ready to handle the responsibility that comes with the job…

So it was a pensive Kurenai that had approached the academy to meet her charges. They were easy enough to spot, for all of them had quite distinctive appearances. Hinata had short, purple hair and was smiling at her. It was obvious why she had been chosen on her team; the girl was far too shy for her own good, and her familiarity with Kurenai might be important to help her out of her shell. Sitting with her were the two boys of the group. Shino, a typical Aburame, wore dark goggles and a high-collared coat, and sat in stoic indifference. It was often hard to tell what the Aburame were thinking after all. Now Naruto… blond, whisker marked… was meditating? It certainly looked to be the case. _Interesting._

"Team 8, with me," she called. Her new charges looked up and followed her without a word. Honestly, this development was a bit unsettling. Why were all of them so quiet?

Eventually she led the three kids to the restaurant she loved to frequent with her friends. It was there that she had to face a problem.

"Leave."

The venomous tone in which she heard the manager ask the customer to vacate the premises made her raise an eyebrow. _Might be some pervert._ Following the voice, Kurenai was shocked to see that it was addressed to Naruto…? She should have known.

"I'd appreciate if you would not deny my guest entrance sir," Kurenai said frostily. "Has he done anything wrong?" She glanced at Naruto, who seemed to be caught somewhere between resignation, fear, surprise and relief. "Well?"

"Surely y-you can't be associating with _him, _Mrs. Kurenai?" The manager stuttered.

Kurenai hardened her glare. If there was something she hated as much as perverts, it was people who judged someone without getting to know them.

"You have a problem with it sir? Then I will just have to change where I eat…"

This got to him. No businessman wished to lose one of his regular customers after all.

"Alright, he can stay."

Kurenai led her charges to an empty booth. Both Hinata and Shino seemed to be curious about the little altercation, but none of them asked Naruto, for which he seemed grateful. Now seated, she began, "Okay everyone, we are going to work together for some time now. So how about we introduce ourselves? Let's start with me."

She made eye contact with the genin and smiled. She directed it towards Naruto to comfort him further, for being singled out the way he had been is never pleasant. Naruto returned a small smile of his own.

"My name is Kurenai Yuhi and I'm your new jonin instructor. I specialize in Genjutsu. I like hanging out with my friends and working with children. I dislike people who judge others without giving them a fair chance, and perverts. My dream is to become strong and make people realize that us women can be every bit as strong as men, and my goal right now is to see the three of you become the best you can be." She noted their reactions, and concluded that they all had been put to ease. She also noticed that Naruto's eyes had brightened considerably. "Why don't you go first Naruto? Just follow my example, and tell us your likes, dislikes, dreams and goal. Okay?"

"Um, okay… I am Naruto Uzumaki, genin. I like meditating, Hokage-sama, the Ichirakus and their ramen. I dislike people who hate others without knowing anything about them, and arrogant people. My dream is to become so strong that I do not have to fear anyone. I also want to specialize in Genjutsu and Fuuinjutsu, and show everyone just how strong these branches can be. My aim is to be a good ninja."

_Now that was really interesting. _Kurenai was intrigued. It was very, very infrequent for people to want to specialize in her beloved art. Naruto might just be trying to suck up to her though… she really, really had to be sure, as she had always wanted someone to share her enthusiasm for genjutsu.

"Really Naruto? It is good to hear. Why these branches, if I may ask?"

Naruto answered without hesitation, "Because they are the strongest, aren't they?"

"And why do you think they are the strongest?"

"Um… What use is all the destructive power in the world, if someone with very strong genjutsu can simply trap you under an illusion and make you do things you wouldn't normally do? As for fuuinjutsu…" Naruto looked nervously towards his stomach, the significance of which wasn't lost to Kurenai. "I've heard even the strongest people can be trapped and their chakra suppressed with seals. So with the right seals, even a Samurai can defeat a ninja."

_So he has given it some thought before._ However, Kurenai had to burst his bubble before he develops false hopes. "Good Naruto, however I must disagree with your reasoning for genjutsu. If a person is strong enough, he would find it easy to dispel the illusion. If you are strong enough, no genjutsu can control you…" She hated it, but she had to admit the flaws of her beloved technique.

"Um, how is a genjutsu dispelled?"

"By disrupting ones chakra enough…"

"So that just means that I need to add so much chakra to my genjutsu that my opponent can simply not disrupt it enough?"

_Huh? _"It is possible in theory, but genjutsu requires perfect control, which isn't possible with larger amounts of chakra."

"Oh?" Kurenai was surprised to see a challenging smirk make its way on the boy's visage. "Only in theory? I have more chakra than the whole class, and my control is perfect as far as I know…" he trailed off.

"Really?" she pressed. "What is the least amount of clones you have ever made?" She knew that with his status as a jinchuriki, his reserves were always going to be massive. Could he really control them as well as he said?

"One. Why?"

_Wow. Even I find it hard to make a single bunshin. _"Show me."

Naruto quickly made the required handsigns and a perfect clone emerged to his right. He smiled cheekily. Kurenai noticed that Hinata was staring at Naruto wide-eyed, and Shino had his eyebrows raised. And why wouldn't they be surprised? Even in academy, when chakra levels were easily controllable, they were not expected to make less than three clones. This was marvelous. Wait. A genjutsu nothing could dispel? So unfair. And no one told her he had such an exquisite chakra control.

With a guilty pang she realized that she had become so involved with Naruto that she had forgotten about the others. "Wow Naruto, you might just back your words up. Okay Hinata, you next."

"U-um, I am Hinata H-Hyuuga. I like Kurenai ma'am, my f-family a-and cinnamon rolls… I d-dislike… people who h-hurt oth-thers… I w-want to be-become strong…" she trailed off.

_What will I do with you…_ Kurenai thought fondly. For all her kindness and virtue, Hinata was very, very shy, and was easily intimidated. She needed to be broken out of it, and fast.

"Well done Hinata." She smiled. "Why don't you go on now, Shino?"

The stoic boy replied in a somewhat monotonous tone, "I am Shino Aburame, I like to study insects and find new varieties that haven't been catalogued by my family yet. I dislike people who kill insects for no reason. My ambition is to learn all of the Aburame bloodline jutsus and then develop my own techniques using my allies."

_Typical Aburame. _"Good… so what would you guys like to eat?"

The four ordered and enjoyed their first meal as a team in silence. It was strange though, how all three of her charges were introverts. For a moment, she wondered if having the brash Kiba Inuzuka would have been better for her team… But the silence was not stifling, so she figured it was all for the best. She was also hyped to mentor someone in Genjutsu, someone who held her art in such high regard. But she needed to be responsible and give equal attention to all her new teammates…

"We're done here. Why don't we all break up for the day?"

Receiving nods all around, she added. "Will you all be able to find training ground eight?" Nods. They could have at least said yes… oh well.

"Then let's meet there tomorrow at seven. I want to see where all of you stand, and then begin your training. Alright?"

That said and agreed to, a satisfied Kurenai left her genin team to their ends, for tomorrow, a new chapter in all their lives was to be unfolded.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

_'__Morning dad,' _Naruto yawned. Today was the first day of his training with his new team. _'Wonder how the training will go.'_

**_'_****_It must be better than the academy.' _**Kurama grumbled. Naruto snorted.

_'__Anything will be better than the academy.' _

To be completely truthful, Naruto had high hopes for the training session, for the simple reason that he had never had someone to watch over him as he trained before. When Naruto was still a kid-

**_'_****_You _****are ****_still a kid.'_**

_'__Hush, you.'_

-When Naruto was still a kid, he had thought that he could train himself just fine. He had expected to find the perfect material in the Konoha library to kick start his training, but unfortunately, there was no 'Training for Dummies,' no 'Encyclopedia of Taijutsu katas,' no 'Fuuinjutsu 101…' Apparently, Ninja do not have the time to write books and prefer passing their knowledge through apprenticeships. In hindsight, that may have been the sole reason why the academy had prescribed no reading material throughout his stay there.

In the short term, this meant that Naruto had nothing but his school notes to refer to for his training. In his naivety he had sometimes searched trash cans and empty alleyways in the hopes of stumbling upon a scroll containing rare jutsu, but this was nothing more than wishful thinking. It was only in stories and video games that one ran into rare techniques after all. So Naruto had ended up training himself without any support, besides that of Kurama of course.

Kurama had suggested that he work on conditioning his body, as it was the only thing he could do without any reference. So Naruto, in his henged form, had made a routine of early morning laps and stretches on the vacant Konohan streets, and of drilling himself in the academy katas in the evenings. However, he had had no one to correct his flaws and guide him. Instinct would carry him only so far. He hoped Kurenai sensei would be a good training instructor for him. She seemed nice enough.

Naruto went through his daily routine with a well-practiced ease. After he was done, he broke into the new ninja gear he had managed to acquire from one Higurashi weapons shop. Having always known that once he became a ninja, he would have to equip himself like one, Naruto had spent the better part of his last year scouting for a shop for ninja ware which would accept him; as every ninja-oriented shop required one to present their ninja registration every time they bought something, and as such it would be impossible for Naruto to check something out while disguised. What had given him hope about the aforementioned shop was that it was usually attended by a bun-haired girl only an year older than him, who he recognized from his time at the orphanage. Given he was virtually unrecognizable from what he used to be then, he had not been rejected outright, and had spent a month or two simply hanging out with Tenten Higurashi at her shop (and leaving before he ran into her guardian) and had gradually befriended her. It had not been easy to say the least: for Naruto had no idea whatsoever what to talk about with a person his age, and the girl had no reason to be overly tolerant of any social gaffes he might have ended up making. Luckily though, Tenten was quite friendly and talked enough for the both of them. Naruto found himself interested despite himself when she described various weapons to him. The sheer passion her tone oozed with would catch anyone's attention in his opinion.

After knowing his status as a graduating academy student, Tenten had quizzed him extensively, and had once even dragged him inside to try and figure out the perfect weapon for him. When he had iterated his desire to specialize in Genjutsu and Fuuinjutsu, she had suggested him to go for a weapon which could help him stay away from his assailants (until they were properly subdued, when he could go for the seals to end the fight). She had known just the thing.

So here he was, wearing his new, midnight black, form fitting pants and a tight, dull grey vest which highlighted his musculature, which, although nothing special, was decent enough for a nin-in-training. His hands were covered by burnt orange gloves with metal joints. However, the crowning jewel in his possession was a six-foot beauty of a steel war fan.

An enthusiastic Tenten had explained that the fan drew upon his chakra to create powerful gusts, which would help him keep his opponents at a sufficient distance for him to trap them in his genjutsu, and could double as either a staff if the foe manages to get in close, or a pole to vault closer to a trapped opponent to do his thing with the seals. Having worried that he might not be comfortable with the style Tenten had suggested, He had decided to borrow it over a temporary down payment. That said, he had been sold to the style Tenten had suggested for him immediately. It certainly sounded good in theory.

All set, Naruto made his way towards the training ground. He reached there to see the others already waiting. His appearance had apparently caught everyone off guard, if the dusting of pink on Hinata's cheeks was any indication.

**_'_****_Score.'_**

_'__Huh?'_

**_'_****_Leave it, brat.'_**

Slightly confused but perfectly willing to let it slide, Naruto waved. "Hey everyone."

"Hey," Hinata and sensei replied, and Shino nodded in acknowledgement.

"Now that everyone's here, I want to know what all you are capable of. Shino, I would like to spar with you first," Kurenai said, addressing her charges.

As first Shino and then Hinata squared off against Kurenai, Naruto noticed that they both had their impressive clan techniques to fall back on. Shino worked in sync with his bugs to drain sensei's chakra while he engaged her in a spar, while Hinata used her Byakugan to get an almost 360-degree vision while sparring. He also realized that both of them had completely different taijutsu styles from what was taught at the academy, which seemed to be a perfect fit for Shino, and a decent one for Hinata. Seeing them spar with sensei, Naruto felt oddly inadequate. Being from a clan was so broken!

It was thus when Kurenai asked Naruto for a spar, he felt that he had to prove himself. Recalling how Tenten had let him furl and unfurl his war fan before she asked him to take it, Naruto opened up his fan and flapped it once with all his might, pouring as much chakra as he could in it.

He ended up producing a ridiculously strong gust of wind, which uprooted all the trees in its path before finally tapering off almost towards the edge of the training area. He might have gotten Kurenai sensei too, had she not made a desperate substitution with a nearby log.

Everyone stood rooted to their spots, stunned. None more than Naruto himself.

"You were using the war fan for the first time…?" Kurenai asked in a low, dangerous tone.

**_'_****_You're in trouble, brat.'_**

Naruto was perfectly aware of this fact. He gulped nervously and turned towards the clearing where his teammates and now his sensei stood. "U-um, yes."

"And what, prey tell, were you thinking using a weapon you have no experience with in a spar? What if something had gone wrong?"

"S-sorry…"

"Sorry doesn't begin to cut it! What if this gust had backfired somehow and ended up hurting you! Or even worse, the others! What would you have said to their parents?"

Naruto hung his head in shame. "U-um…"

Kurenai had perhaps realized that she had managed to intimidate the kid perfectly. And she had enough reason to! That gust was way too powerful, and it was only her instincts which had saved her from being blown away! Taking a calming breath, she asked, "Why did you use it if you were aware that you did not know how to use the fan? Explain. Now!"

Naruto had had his fair share of harsh words throughout his life, but never had he felt so thoroughly chastised. It was the first time he felt that he deserved it. Tearing up, he explained, "I'm sorry sensei but I was nervous! Both Hinata and Shino know so much stuff! I don't know anything outside of Academy taijutsu and bukijutsu! I t-thought I n-needed to d-do something different too, since I d-don't k-know a-anyt-thing!" Unable to take it anymore, Naruto broke into desperate sobs, which only abated when he felt a small hand gently rubbing the small of his back. He turned to see a nervous Hinata, who said, "Um, I-It's all r-right Naruto-kun. Both I-I and S-Shino h-have had our c-clan t-training even before w-we got into t-the academy. I-it doesn't matter. W-with training, you will a-also learn a l-lot o-of things…"

"T-Thanks H-Hinata-chan."

"Good Hinata," Kurenai smiled, "And Naruto, listen to what she says. All of you are unique in your own ways. You don't have to go out of your way to prove a point. This is what training is for, so that you can become stronger. I must ask though… why the fan?"

Seeing no out, Naruto explained his, or rather Tenten's reasoning (leaving out her name of course) for why he had a battle fan.

"Damn Higurashis and their weapon mania…" muttered Kurenai under her breath. Naruto, having somehow managed to catch it, started sweating. "How did you know?"

Kurenai chuckled. "Oh it's no big deal. Your friend isn't in trouble. It is not the first time the Higurashis have convinced a newbie to buy a weapon, and their logic is almost always convincing. Your plan, Naruto, was a good one… but even if you had managed to use the fan correctly, did you know any genjutsu?"

Naruto merely shook his head.

"Thought so. Remember Naruto, however good something seems on paper, never try it until you are absolutely sure of your ability to make it work. No pre-made plan survives the battlefield. Okay?"

Naruto nodded.

"That said… it was some attack you pulled off. You have got to have a wind affinity, and a strong one at that… You really got lucky with the fan, child."

"So should I keep it?"

"Of course you should, if you learn to use it, that is. I think I should ask Asuma for help… Anyway, gather round everyone."

Hinata and Shino, who had taken a step back to respect their privacy (as Kurenai had discussed both their strengths and weaknesses with them in private), came forward. Shino nodded to Naruto, who nodded back gratefully before he smiled at Hinata who returned it. "Now that I have seen what you all are capable of at present, let's start training properly. For the first three hours, I want you to train individually. I'll supervise. After that, we will take our first mission as a genin team!"

Silence.

_Kami, why me!_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5_**

The first mission as a team turned out to be the simple task of walking the dogs of the Inuzuka compound. Naruto had wondered what was the point of assigning a chore as a mission to genin, they were ninja for fuck's sake! However, one look at Hinata and her mental struggle with approaching even the tamest Inuzuka ninken showed him otherwise.

**_'_****_It was still just a glorified chore.'_**

_'__Don't make me cry dad. I've gotta complete at least thirty-nine more before we even get to move on to even mildly challenging stuff!'_

**_'_****_At least I don't have to stay awake for the whole time ~'_**

_'__Sniff'_

At least they were paid for their trouble. This charade of doing menial chores like unweeding a garden, whitewashing a fence, cutting some trees… went on for a complete month. Not all was smooth going however. A lot of these missions were requested by the civilians, who turned their team down as soon as they spotted him along with his team. Everytime this happened, Kurenai sensei grew angrier and more protective of him, while his teammates grew more confused and curious. It grew to the point that team eight had to limit themselves to D-rank missions offered by ninja, who Naruto had noticed did not hold a grudge against him for the most part. When he asked Kurenai sensei, she simply stated that sealing isn't some esoteric art to the ninja community, as their lives are surrounded by sealing scrolls and exploding tags. They knew what seals were capable of, and more importantly, what the Third Hokage was capable of with his seals.

He had gotten close to both his teammates, not that one could easily spot their camaraderie easily. Most of their time together was spent in comfortable silences. Hinata, he noticed, was a very kind and compassionate girl. Even while sparring, she hesitated to land blows which would deal any real damage. He got the impression of her having a less than ideal home life, which was perhaps the reason for her stuttering. She admitted to have had no friend at the academy, a fact echoed by both him and Shino. Shino often could be seen holding a palm up to his face, talking to or simply observing one of his many bugs. He was not really interested in talking much, however their friendship was slowly blooming. He was always ready to spar with him in pure taijutsu battles to help him master the new style Kurenai sensei was helping him develop, and was always ready to congratulate him with his stiff nods whenever he performed well against him, something which was becoming more and more common as he polished his taijutsu style to reflect himself.

Kurenai sensei had said that Naruto could, if he so desired, become a taijutsu master eventually; as his stamina and strength were pretty ridiculous for his age. Dad had, of course, chimed in saying it was all thanks to his chakra. Apparently, the seal had loosened so much that a pretty large amount of chakra was leaking out daily from Kurama to his body, and having no malnourished cells to nourish any longer, was reinforcing his body strength and providing him with an inhumanely good healing factor, which helped him gain more from his physical exercises than a normal person would. This, coupled with his growing comfort with a taijutsu style that finally matched his needs, made him a physical powerhouse. His taijutsu would be a good thing to fall back on, were his opponent to enter his personal space.

Their Taijutsu wasn't the only thing sensei made them work upon. In the beginning, she had made them do preliminary teamwork exercises, which they had breezed past due to none of them having a single quarrelsome bone in their body, and trusting in each other not to do something unreasonable. Their tentatively budding friendships with each other were an added bonus. Eventually, Naruto became confident enough in their characters, in no small part due to Kurama never really sensing an ounce of negativity from the two kids, and decided to sate their curiosities by telling them his life story.

It was one of those evenings when Kurenai sensei had taken them for a team dinner after another successful D-rank.

"Guys, I want to tell you something."

Kurenai beckoned him to continue, intrigued. Naruto acknowledged her and turned back towards his teammates. "I've noticed you guys are curious why I'm often treated the way I am by the civilians- "

"Wait!" Kurenai interjected. "You don't have to share what I think you are going to- "

"Sensei it's alright. I trust them, and since we are a team, we should know about each other, I think. More importantly, Kurama trusts them."

"Kurama?" Shino asked.

"Um… you guys know him as the Kyuubi no Kitsune or the nine-tailed fox- "

"B-but it's d- "

"No Hinata, _he _isn't."

"Let me get this straight," Kurenai interjected in the gravest tone he had ever heard from her, "You are in touch with the fox?"

"Don't worry sensei, the Hokage already knows all that I am going to tell you now. May I begin at the beginning?"

Calming herself, Kurenai acquiesced. And so, he told them all about how the masked man with weird red eyes had extracted Kurama from his mother, who was the previous jinchuriki, trapped him in a genjutsu and made him attack Konoha, ("Sharingan!" Kurenai had muttered faintly, which no one else had managed to catch) how the fourth Hokage, who happened to be his father ("WHAT!" three jaws dropped.) had sealed the fox' physical half inside him, and how his body had depended on it to survive his early years. He described his life at the orphanage, his treatment by the civilians and his talks with Kurama. He talked about Kurama's goal and how it tied into his. Finally, he described everything the third Hokage has done for him and of his reaction when he had told him the truth. It had been an oddly cathartic experience, talking about everything.

"Please, everyone, keep this all a secret. Hokage's orders…" Naruto nervously looked up when he heard a sniffle, to notice a teary-eyed Kurenai and an openly sobbing Hinata, who promptly flew into his arms. Kurenai quickly followed.

After a few moments when everyone was composed, Kurenai said, "That… makes a lot of sense actually. I can't believe…! And how did I never notice? You look so much like him…" Naruto noticed that none of them had any adverse reaction to his holding Kurama inside. If anything, they had a better understanding of the fox now, who was as much of a victim as his host. "I'm so sorry for what we have done to you, both of you… I'll make sure to teach you everything I know so that you are never trapped in a genjutsu. I promise," she resolved.

"U-um, I also w-want to t-tell something," Hinata said, and launched into her tale of how she was kidnapped by ninja from Kumo who had come to negotiate a peace treaty when she was three, how she had lost her mother soon after, and how her kind father had turned bitter and how the clan elders openly bullied and mistreated her, how she felt that she was weak… Kurenai and Naruto had to assuage her fears, and Kurenai sensei promised to make her stronger.

The group turned askance towards Shino, who promptly responded with "I have a perfectly normal life, thank you very much," which generated a round of chuckles all round. In a solemn tone, he continued, "But everyone, thanks. I will always be there for you all, I promise."

As the dinner concluded, all four members of team eight felt each other grow much closer.


End file.
